Conn., NY AGs Among Those Calling For Federal Regulation Of E-Cigarettes

KNUTSFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 05: In this photo illustration a woman smokes an electronic cigarette on July 5, 2012 in Knutsford, United Kingdom. Electronic cigarettes are the latest health device for smokers hoping to quit nicotine addiction. Earlier today a major security operation took place in Staffordshire, England, after a passenger on a coach used an electronic cigarette which was mistaken for something more sinister and a full scale security alert was instigated. The 48 passengers were later allowed to carry on with their journey. (Photo illustration by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)A woman smokes an electronic cigarette (file/credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) – Forty attorneys general sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday urging the agency to meet its own deadline and regulate electronic cigarettes in the same way it regulates tobacco products.

The letter, co-sponsored by Massachusetts Attorney Martha Coakley and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, says e-cigarettes are being marketed to children through cartoon-like advertising characters and by offering fruit and candy flavors, much like cigarettes were once marketed to hook new smokers.

E-cigarettes are being advertised during prime-time television hours at a time when many children are watching, according to the letter, which has led a surge in sales and use.

The health effects of e-cigarettes have not been adequately studied and the ingredients are not regulated, the letter said.

The letter urges the FDA to meet an Oct. 31 deadline to issue proposed regulations that will address the advertising, ingredients and sale to minors of e-cigarettes. The decision has been delayed in the past.

Tom Kiklas, co-founder and chief financial officer of the industry group, the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, agrees that e-cigarettes should be regulated as tobacco products. The group represents dozens of companies involved in the manufacture and sales of e-cigarettes.

“We’re in agreement with responsible restrictions on the marketing and sales of these products,” including a ban on marketing aimed at children, he said. “What I cringe at is when e-cigarettes get demonized.”